Olympic torch begins its journey through New York

NEW YORK -- The Olympic torch began its journey through the streets of New York City on Sunday, carried by several runners who lost family members and friends on Sept. 11.

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was expected to carry the torch Sunday night to the plaza in Rockefeller Center, where a candlelight ceremony was planned to honor those who died in the terrorist attacks.

The torch was carried across the Goethals Bridge into Staten Island on Sunday morning to begin the New York leg of its 13,500-mile journey across the United States to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

More than 100 runners, nominated for the honor by friends and relatives, were to help bring the torch on its trip through the city.

After winding through Staten Island, the torch was taken across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn.

To begin the Manhattan portion of the trip, a group of torchbearers was to board a ferry in Queens at 6 p.m. that would pass the Statue of Liberty and circle the southern tip of Manhattan before docking on the West Side.

Connor Geraghty, who lost his firefighter father, Edward Geraghty, in the attack on the World Trade Center, was to carry the torch off the boat with his mother, Mary.

The torch then was to travel toward the plaza in Rockefeller Center, passed off to other runners, including Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and Lyzbeth Glick.

Her husband Jeremy Glick was aboard United Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11 after passengers apparently struggled with hijackers.

Giuliani was to carry the torch two-tenths of a mile to Rockefeller Plaza. The mayor was to light a cauldron, keeping the flame burning until Dec. 26, when the torch relay starts again, passing through the Bronx on its way to Connecticut and Rhode Island.